Overview

Depending on your industry, Mixed Mating Groups is known by a different name:

• Multi-sire Joining (Australian Beef)
• Multi-sire pastures (US Beef)
• Syndicate sire mating (Australian sheep)
• Mass Spawning (Aquaculture)
• Open Pollination (Plants)
• Cohort Management (Swine + any other industry with downstream multipliers)

They key difference to a normal MateSel run (single-pair mating list), is you request MateSel to assemble one or more groups of Males and Females to be mated. DNA parentage testing is then required on the progeny to maintain pedigree recording.

MateSel handles the allocation of males and females into syndicate groups for mating purposes. Alternatively, you can use the MatingGroup field in your datafile to control which group each individual is a candidate for, as described later. These are called Mixed Mating Groups (MMG). This results in the same number of groups of males and of females, such that each male group is mated to one female group. These groups can contain different numbers of individuals, as dictated by the user.

For each MMG you can target:

• Different trait profiles
• Reduced Progeny Inbreeding
• Progeny genotypes for individual markers

Classic solutions to this problem involve making sire syndicates of closely related individuals and/or individuals of similar EBV profile, in order to ensure that whatever males(s) actually gets the mating(s), the progeny outcome will be reasonably consistent. MateSel does not need to do this directly, because, as usual, it focuses on outcome in progeny, and the parents have to fall in line behind that.

Introduction Video

Cohort Management / Flow Control

MMG can be applied wherever groups of breeding individuals need to be assembled for later mating, including regular flow of animals through the breeding system, and topping-up of groups of animals at different AI stations, multiplier herds, or even countries, while accommodating the animals already in these groups. It may also have application in conservation programs where there is limited control of mating, as noted here.

Below is a video specifically aimed at Flow Control, relevant from 12m 40s. This video is currently using the Legacy version, we aim to replace this video using the new version of MateSel in the near future.